Although many college students may have trouble pinpointing the location of Sudan on a map, a number of recently-formed student organizations are making sure that their classmates have at least heard of this densely populated African region. Since 2003, thousands of students have dedicated themselves to educating their peers about the genocide occurring in the western region of Darfur.

The conflict began in February 2003 between the Arab-controlled government and African rebel groups such as the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Spurred by feelings of marginalization and neglect from the government, the SLA and JEM attacked government outposts in February 2003. Since then, the government and the Arab militias, known as the janjaweed, have been utilizing tactics such as torture, rape and village burning to target ethnic African civilians in Darfur. Since the beginning of the conflict, 400,000 civilians have been killed, 2.5 million have been displaced and an additional 200,000 have claimed refugee status in neighboring Chad.

Hillel, an organization for Jewish students, rally in New York City. Photo by Jess Brock.

Since the conflict began, American students have been the leaders in the movement to stop it. Thousands of students have joined campus groups, attended rallies, protests and conferences; and lobbied politicians to do what they can to save the victims of the genocide. According to MSNBC, there are advocate groups for Darfur on 250 campuses nationwide.

Jewish groups such as Hillel have been very vocal in their protests since the beginning of the conflict, with “Never Forget” as their bold battle cry. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have also enjoyed student support for years. One would be hard-pressed to find a college chapter of Amnesty International that has not turned its focus to Darfur.